I've had the same thought. He's only 26 and is a former 1st round pick. He's obviously not going to hit .350, but maybe the light went on for him. At worst, he gives the Sox the luxury of not having to rush Davidson.

Its a great luxury to have the options the Sox currently have at infielder spots but the outfield is not so deep. I would like to see Johnson and/or Semian get outfield time in the minors. What I have heard and seen of Johnson his main assets are his speed and bat and Semian is adequate in the field but not a gold glover. Moving one or both to the outfield I think would benefit the Sox future.

Ramirez has some good trade worth and is getting long in the tooth, Beckham is and will be making some good money very soon, Gillaspie not much of either.

Not like the Sox don't have money to spend. This team could add a few pitchers and make a run at the playoffs THIS year. By next year that should be no problem at all, but if you go all in on a 5 year plan there is no guarantee the new guys will be able to do that.

Not like the Sox don't have money to spend. This team could add a few pitchers and make a run at the playoffs THIS year. By next year that should be no problem at all, but if you go all in on a 5 year plan there is no guarantee the new guys will be able to do that.

This is true. They did make a large offer to Tanaka and Dunn's contract will be coming off the books soon.

To put this in perspective. Ramirez has a 2.6 WAR. Now I'm not big on WAR as a stat, but it's still 1/3 of the way into the season. He's second on the list for SS and one of 4 SS with a WAR of 2.0 or higher.

If the Sox trade him, they better be DAMNED sure the next guy can peform AND get a BIG return. I'd rather trade Beckham if push comes to shove but not sure that's a good idea either. At least he'd be at or close to max value by mid-summer if he continues to play at this level.

Has anyone checked out Davidson's line at Charlotte lately? .182/.254/.331. His career fielding percentage at 3b is less than.930. I ain't holding my breath. If anything he is a 1b/DH in majors and I don't get why anyone thinks he'll be as good as Gillaspie. Sure, it's possible but nothing to bank on.

He is part of a future rotation at third base with Davidson.
He can also play 1st base in a pinch.

Conor G. is solid,and should be around for awhile.
Once Davidson shows he can hit rightys, then maybe Conor goes to 1st base and Abreu is DH.

As for Semian, I like having him go down and work on his batting average and outfielding....holding pattern until July, when the Sox may be dealing middle infielders.

How are we defining "Real deal?" When his hitting comes back to earth, what we've got is likely a ~.280 hitter without much power. Nice bench guy, but not a starter at a CI position on a good team unless he's a gold glover, which Conor isn't.

And if TCM continues to play like the best SS in baseball? Heck, even Beckham is showing signs of life with stellar play at 2B and the highest OPS of his career.

People are so eager for the future they are overlooking the stuff we currently have that is working.

Ramirez is 33 and Beckham has been terrible for 90% of his career. This team is rebuilding. Of course we should look towards the future.

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Originally Posted by shoota

I'm not counting this homerun or his 3 RBI from today's game because of the game situation. I'm not counting his pinch hit solo homerun in a blowout win in Colorado. In my book, Crede has 2 less home runs than his statistics show, 4 less RBI, and one less walk (the one where he pinch hit for Uribe after coming in with a 3-0 count and taking one pitch).

Ramirez is 33 and Beckham has been terrible for 90% of his career. This team is rebuilding. Of course we should look towards the future.

If Ramirez can continue to perform at a high level for the next 4 years they would be foolish to trade him for less than a huge return. He's in incredible shape and plays every single day. Guys like that don't normally fall off the cliff at 33. This team is not that far from the playoffs.

How are we defining "Real deal?" When his hitting comes back to earth, what we've got is likely a ~.280 hitter without much power. Nice bench guy, but not a starter at a CI position on a good team unless he's a gold glover, which Conor isn't.

His defense this year is well above average at third base. This isn't 2000 anymore, a plus glove, plus bat, fundamentally sound player is the least of our worries. I don't know, I look at that swing, I think you are selling him short.

If Ramirez can continue to perform at a high level for the next 4 years they would be foolish to trade him for less than a huge return. He's in incredible shape and plays every single day. Guys like that don't normally fall off the cliff at 33. This team is not that far from the playoffs.

I'd be entirely with you if I thought this level of play is sustainable, but what Alexei's done so far is a huge outlier compared to the rest of his career. It would be hard to stomach holding onto a 33 year old player playing over his head as a rebuilding team, especially considering his value will never be higher. We may be able to get a legitimate pitching prospect for him this year -- I don't know how you could turn that down given the massive hole we have in our rotation tight now, without much help in sight in the minors.

That said it will be a sad day whenever he's gone, whatever the circumstances may be. Love watching Alexei play.

His defense this year is well above average at third base. This isn't 2000 anymore, a plus glove, plus bat, fundamentally sound player is the least of our worries. I don't know, I look at that swing, I think you are selling him short.

I certainly hope you're right, but I think plus bat is a reach. I'd be more enamored if he was more patient, I guess.

And his glove is pretty solid, no doubt, but his range is poor.

Average bat, average glove is probably what I'd say. As a 250-300 PA bench guy, I like him. But as a starter, I'm not that crazy about him.

A 2-month sample is still quite small. Let's not forget the overreactions to the hot starts that Tyler and Tank had, talk of how they'd both turned a corner and all that. Well as should have been expected, they regressed in May -- .208 and .229, respectively.

Not saying that Conor's going to hit .190 in June, but I'm not putting money on him hitting over .300 at season's end. Do we have bigger holes on this club? Of course. But as I see it third base is still a position that needs to be addressed at some point.